Juror qualifications; clarify qualified electors must be active voters to be competent jurors.
SB 2135 clarifies that to serve as a competent juror in Mississippi, a qualified elector must be designated as an active voter in the state's election system, replacing the previous requirement of simply being a "qualified elector." The bill does not change existing requirements like residency, literacy, or criminal history checks, but adds this active voter status as a new qualification. It directly affects potential jurors who are registered voters but not currently active in the election system. The law also maintains the process where judges verify literacy by having jurors complete a written form before service.
Bill status
signed
all 5 stages cleared
Introduction
Feb 2026
Committee Review
Feb 2026
Senate Passage
Feb 2026
House Passage
Mar 2026
Signed into Law
Mar 2026
Introduced Feb 11, 2026
Signed Mar 19, 2026
Maddy AI version diff · 2 comparisons
What changed between versions
As Introduced
→
As Passed the upper
·
3 edits
MINOR
The Senate passed version of SB 2135 expands the bill's scope beyond its original purpose of requiring active voter registration for jury competency. It now also removes the outdated disqualification of being a 'common gambler or habitual drunkard' and replaces it with a modern standard: a juror must not have a substance use disorder. This modernizes jury eligibility language by replacing pejorative 19th-century terms with a clinical diagnosis-based criterion.
ELIGIBILITY
The disqualification for being a 'common gambler or habitual drunkard' is deleted and replaced with a requirement that a competent juror does not have a substance use disorder. This swaps an outdated, informal standard for a modern medical/clinical one.
SCOPE
The bill's stated purposes were expanded in the Senate to explicitly include deleting the common gambler/habitual drunkard requirement and adding the substance use disorder requirement, beyond the original voter registration clarification.
TECHNICAL
Minor formatting changes to line breaks in the juror questionnaire section (home address field).
Floor votes · Senate Feb 9, 2026 · House Mar 10, 2026
How they voted
52–0
Passed
Total votes 52
Feb 9, 2026
D
Democratic18
100% Yea
R
Republican34
100% Yea
Vote distribution
All Yea
All Nay
Mixed
No data
Full legislative history
Actions timeline
Total actions
12
Key actions
6
Committee
4
Amendments
1
Mar 19, 2026
Signed into law
Approved by Governor
executive
Mar 10, 2026
Lower · Passed
Passed
lower
Feb 23, 2026
Lower · Passed
Title Suff Do Pass
lower
Feb 16, 2026
Committee
Referred To Judiciary B
lower
Feb 11, 2026
Introduced
Transmitted To House
upper
Feb 9, 2026
Upper · Passed
Passed As Amended
upper
Feb 9, 2026
Upper · Passed
Amended
upper
Jan 29, 2026
Upper · Passed
Title Suff Do Pass
upper
Jan 13, 2026
Committee
Referred To Judiciary, Division A
upper
1 primary · 0 co-sponsors
Sponsors
Role
Legislator
Party
State
District
P
Joey Fillingane
RRepublican
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